CURRENT INITIATIVES - SPINY LOBSTER

Despite Hurricanes... WWF Boosts Spiny Lobster Fishery

Fishery improvement projects (FIP), by definition, are not
usually easy endeavors.

That's especially been the case in the Bahamas with spiny lobster, a fishery that
achieved the Caribbean's first Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification in
August after the Bahamas Marine Exporters Association, engaged in a lengthy FIP
using a model developed by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF).
“That was a huge accomplishment for such a complex fishery going from nothing
to full certification,” said Casey Marion, the director of sustainability initiatives at
Jacksonville, Florida's Beaver Street Fisheries.

A Beaver Street subsidiary, Tropic Seafood, is a major exporter of Bahamaian
spiny lobster. Tropic was a founding member of the exporter's association and has
worked to build its capacity.

"Conducting the FIP, Marion said, speaking to Undercurrent News on the sidelines of
the Global Aquaculture Alliance's Global Outlook on Aquaculture Leadership
conference, involved multiple efforts to improve the fishery's governance". This
included reaching an agreement through the exporters association and lobster
harvesters to avoid taking undersized lobsters. Additionally, an education
campaign helped to crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated lobster
fishing, Marion said, and research was undertaken to answer fundamental questions
about the nature of the spiny lobster fishery. “Where is it born, hatched grow, where does it reproduce, what does this life cycle look like,” he said.

The high-end shellfish is in growing demand in the US and Europe, and,
increasingly, Asia, but governance for the fishery in the Caribbean nation was
traditionally not well developed. According to an assessment report produced as part of the MSC process, lobster
fishing in the Bahamas is accomplished through traps and "collection by hand,
hooks and spears from condominiums". Data collection is still a "weak spot" the report noted, but around 2,800 metric tons of spiny lobster tails were harvested in 2016 and 61t of whole lobster. There is little bycatch from the fishery, but foreign IUU, mostly from the Dominican Republic, is still an issue -- Bahamians are able to harvest lobsters year-round
without a license.

"The level of IUU fishing has reduced significantly in recent years, as The Royal
Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) has been allocated additional resources for at-sea
patrols and inspections, but IUU has most likely not been eradicated," the report
stated.

HURRICANES

Marion added that hurricanes pose a further challenge to spiny lobster harvesters. Last year's devastating Hurricane Irma disrupted fishing significantly. "At least with Irma last year the timing of the hurricane came after fishermen had had the chance to harvest a few rounds," Marion said. That wasn't the case with the recent passing of Hurricane Florence. “It was a very tough beginning of the season. A lot of the traps got displaced during
Irma last year so we were already out,” he said. “The ramifications of losing the traps didn’t really affect us as much then as it does now.” Still, he said, consumer demand for spiny lobster -- which is processed by Tropic and then sent to the US to be distributed by Beaver Street -- remains steady. He added that five, six, seven, and eight-ounce tails are the target sizes for foodservice customers with larger sizes tray-packed for retail customers.
“The demand is there. If we have the product the demand is there for us to
distribute out," he said.

SUSTAINABILITY COLLABORATION

Marion added that the Bahamas FIP was a good example of collaboration, something he'd like to see more of, not just from industry but from the multiple non-governmental Organizations (NGO) involved in fisheries projects. “It took a force beyond government and I think that can be seen pretty consistently with other FIPs that are going on around the world today,” he said. He gave the example of a snapper conservation FIP Beaver Street is involved in, in
Indonesia. “Industry has to work collectively together. There are all sorts of factors when it comes to FIPs. Everybody’s situation is unique but everybody needs to come together to capacity build to see what gaps need to be filled,” Marion said.

NGOs have a chance to “really steer the industry” if they could strategically collaborate, and focus on a handful of key species for a targeted period of time, he said, as opposed to taking a "shotgun approach" to fisheries around the world. "Because they’re doing the funding, they have the resources, and the people. If they could really focus and say we’re going to focus on these top ten and work here for a few years they could really make a difference. Once we’ve got those under control, industry as a whole, can really steer the retailers and foodservice," he said. "I think that’s what’s really going to move the needle, otherwise we’re all going to be in silos.”